Communication network control system, radio communication appartus, and communication network control method

ABSTRACT

The present invention can provide a radio communication apparatus comprising an antenna which receives a restriction signal from a radio base station, a reception circuit which decodes the restriction signal received by said antenna, and a control circuit which controls the radio communication apparatus, in which the control circuit can be adapted to select appropriately a speech outgoing/incoming scheme for performing communication with the radio base station on the basis of the restriction signal from the radio base station. As the speech outgoing/incoming scheme, a domain scheme or a speech communication scheme is used. In addition, the present invention further provides a communication network control system using the radio communication apparatus, and a communication network control method.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This invention makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, andclaims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 from an applicationfor Communication Network Control System, Radio Communication Apparatus,And Communication Network Control Method earlier filed in the JapanesePatent Office on Jun. 29, 2006, and duly assigned with the applicationNo. 2006-179604.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a communication network control system,a radio communication apparatus used in the system, a communicationnetwork control method, and a radio base station.

2. Description of Background Technology:

The number of subscribers of cellular phones has increased yearly andrecently exceeded 90 million. That is, about ⅔ the population of Japanpossess cellular phone sets. On the other hand, the communicationnetwork resources are finite, and many cellular phone ownerssimultaneously communicate in a densely populated area, a disaster area,or the like, in particular. This may cause congestion in thecommunication network.

As a related technique for avoiding such communication networkcongestion, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI of theJapanese Patent Application) No. 05-252103 (Patent Document 1) disclosesa digital car phone system which increases the number of channels at thetime of traffic congestion in a radio base station. In this system, upondetecting traffic congestion, a radio base station transmits a half raterequest signal to a car phone terminal. Upon receiving the half raterequest signal, the car phone terminal starts half-rate communicationthrough the radio base station.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI of the Japanese PatentApplication) No. 05-183495 (Patent Document 2) discloses a method ofperforming congestion control in radio communication. According to thismethod, a base station calculates the traffic amount of a radio channelby detecting the communication schemes used by terminals undercommunication and the number of terminals. The base station then imposescall limitation on terminals on the basis of the communication schemeused by the terminals under communication, the number of terminals, andthe calculated traffic amount.

In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI of theJapanese Patent Application) No. 2004-15761 (Patent Document 3)discloses a congestion control system in radio access. In this system,upon detecting congestion, a terminal notifies a radio base station ofthe corresponding information. Upon receiving the congestionnotification, the radio base station instructs a transcoder to suppressthe bit rate of a speech CODEC (Coder/Decoder), thereby canceling thecongestion state.

According to the background technology described above, althoughcongestion occurs on the circuit domain side used in general speechcommunication, sufficient capacity may remain on the packet domain sideused in packet communication for e-mail and the like.

At the time of a disaster, e.g., an earthquake, when it is expected thatcommunication network congestion occurs, nobody can afford to take timeto input an e-mail message, and hence it is preferable to allow speechcommunication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary object is that the present invention can provide a radiocommunication apparatus (e.g., a cellular phone set) which allows speechcommunication at the time of communication network congestion by using aproper speech outgoing/incoming scheme. More specifically, there isprovided a communication network control system which allows speechcommunication under deterioration in sound quality to a minimumnecessary level by causing a radio communication apparatus toautomatically select a proper domain, speech communication scheme, orCODEC in accordance with a congestion state from a radio base station.It should be noted that, in this case, the term “CODEC” indicates adevice or software for conversion of data, e.g., compression ordecompression of data.

An exemplary aspect of the present invention is that a radiocommunication apparatus of the present invention comprises an antennawhich receives a restriction signal from a radio base station, areception circuit which decodes the restriction signal received by theantenna, and a control circuit which controls the radio communicationapparatus, wherein the control circuit can select appropriately a speechoutgoing/incoming scheme for performing communication with the radiobase station on the basis of the restriction signal from the radio basestation.

According to the present invention, there are provided a communicationnetwork control system which allows proper speech communication even atthe time of communication network congestion, a radio communicationapparatus used in the system, a communication network control method,and a radio base station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of a communicationnetwork control system according to the first exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of a radio basestation in the communication network control system according to thefirst exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of a radiocommunication apparatus in the communication network control systemaccording to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the communicationnetwork control system according to the first exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of making the control circuit ofthe communication network control system according to the firstexemplary embodiment of the present invention select a speechoutgoing/incoming scheme; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of a communicationnetwork control system according to the second exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Several exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be describedbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, therespective exemplary embodiments described below do not limit thetechnical scope of the present invention.

First Exemplary Embodiment

The first exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of a communication network control systemof 2^(nd) Generation or 3^(rd) Generation according to the firstexemplary embodiment. The communication network control system accordingto the first exemplary embodiment comprises radio communicationapparatuses 100A and 100B, radio base stations 200A and 200B, and arelay station 300. Referring to FIG. 1, reference symbols A and B denoteradio cover areas of the radio base stations 200A and 200B.

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of the radio base station 200A. The radiobase station 200A comprises a transmission/reception circuit 210,control circuit 220, congestion monitoring circuit 230, and antenna 240.The radio base station 200A can be a communication apparatus which cantransmit/receive radio signals to/from a radio communication apparatus,e.g., an AP (Access Point) in a wireless LAN system or a base station ina cellular phone system. Since the radio base station 200B may have thesame arrangement as that of the radio base station 200A, the arrangementof the radio base station 200A will be described here.

The transmission/reception circuit 210 performs necessary processing fora restriction signal input from the control circuit 220, and transmitsthe resultant signal to the radio communication apparatus 100A throughan antenna. The transmission/reception circuit 210 performs necessaryprocessing (e.g., modulation, encoding, or A/D conversion) for datareceived from the radio base station 200A, and outputs the resultantdata to the control circuit 220. The transmission/reception circuit 210also performs necessary processing (e.g., demodulation, decoding, or D/Aconversion) for data input from the control circuit 220, and transmitsthe resultant data to the radio communication apparatus 100A.

The control circuit 220 transmits information about the congestion stateof a circuit domain or packet domain, a restriction ratio, or the like,which is input from the congestion monitoring circuit 230, as arestriction signal to the radio communication apparatus 100A. Thecontrol circuit 220 transmits data received from the radio communicationapparatus 100A to the relay station 300, and transmits data receivedfrom the relay station 300 to the radio communication apparatus 100A.The control circuit 220 can comprise, for example, a circuit including aCPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the likeas an arithmetic processing function.

The congestion monitoring circuit 230 monitors the congestion state of acircuit domain or packet domain, and outputs data about the congestionstate and a restriction ratio to the control circuit 220.

The antenna 240 transmits data input from the transmission/receptioncircuit 210 to the radio communication apparatus 100A. The antenna 240outputs data received from the radio communication apparatus 100A to thetransmission/reception circuit 210.

FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of the radio communication apparatus 100A.The radio communication apparatus 100A comprises atransmission/reception circuit 110, control circuit 120, storage circuit130, interface circuit 140, and antenna 150. The radio communicationapparatus 100A can be various communication apparatuses each having afunction of communicating with a radio base station, e.g., a PC(Personal Computer), a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) apparatus, acellular phone set, a fixed telephone set, a PHS (Personal Handy phoneSystem), or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). In this case, since theradio communication apparatus 100B may have the same arrangement as thatof the radio communication apparatus 100A, the arrangement of the radiocommunication apparatus 100A will be described.

The transmission/reception circuit 110 performs necessary processing(e.g., demodulation, decoding, or D/A conversion) for a restrictionsignal received from the radio base station 200A through an antenna, andoutputs the resultant signal to the control circuit 120. Thetransmission/reception circuit 110 performs necessary processing (e.g.,modulation, encoding, or A/D conversion) for data input from the controlcircuit 120, and transmits the resultant data to the radio base station200A through an antenna.

The control circuit 120 analyzes a restriction signal received from theradio base station 200A and extracts information such as the congestionstate of a circuit domain or packet domain, a restriction ratio, or thelike. The control circuit 120 selects a proper speech outgoing/incomingscheme for the radio communication apparatus 100A in accordance witheach kind of information extracted by analysis. In this case, a speechoutgoing/incoming scheme indicates a domain, a speech communicationscheme, or a CODEC. In addition, the control circuit 120 performscommunication by using the automatically selected proper speechcommunication scheme, domain, or CODEC. There are various kinds ofspeech communication schemes and CODECs. First of all, the speechcommunication schemes include, for example, a full duplex communicationscheme used for general speech communication, IMS (Internet ProtocolMultimedia Subsystems) which performs full duplex communication on apacket communication network, and a PoC communication scheme (Push totalk over Cellular) which performs half duplex communication on a packetcommunication network. The CODECs include, for example, AMR (AdvancedMulti Rate CODEC) 12.2, AMR 10.2, AMR 7.95, AMR 7.40, AMR 6.70, AMR5.90, AMR 5.15, AMR 4.75, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)FR (Full Rate), and GSM HR (Half Rate).

In this case, the control circuit 120 can comprise for example, acircuit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro ProcessingUnit), or the like as an arithmetic processing function.

The storage circuit 130 stores a program associated with a speechcommunication scheme or a CODEC. In this case, a CODEC may beimplemented by a circuit provided for each type of CODEC instead of aprogram. In addition to a CODEC or the like, the storage circuit 130stores, for example, a program which is necessary for the radiocommunication apparatus 100A to operate, and a telephone directoryholding personal information such as the names or telephone numbers ofspeech communication partners. In this case, the storage circuit 130 canbe one of various storage media having a function of storing data, e.g.,a semiconductor memory and a hard disk.

The interface circuit 140 outputs, for example, data input by the userof the radio communication apparatus 100A to the control circuit 120.Alternatively, the interface circuit 140 notifies the user of the radiocommunication apparatus 100A of data input from the control circuit 120.More specifically, when the radio communication apparatus 100A isconfigured to automatically set a speech outgoing/incoming scheme, theinterface circuit 140 may be configured to notify the user of a changeof setting for the speech communication scheme or CODEC through, forexample, a window displaying images or text or sound. In addition, whenthe user is to set a speech outgoing/incoming scheme for the radiocommunication apparatus 100A, the interface circuit 140 may beconfigured to set a speech outgoing/incoming scheme through, forexample, a keyboard for inputting data, a window displaying images ortext to the user, or a speaker which produces sound.

The interface circuit 140 can also notify the user, by using sound,text, or images, when the speech communication scheme automaticallychanges.

The antenna 150 transmits data input from the transmission/receptioncircuit 110 to the radio base station 200A. In addition, the antenna 150outputs data received from the radio base station 200A to thetransmission/reception circuit 110.

The relay station 300 manages the radio base stations 200A and 200B. Therelay station 300 is, for example, an RNC (Radio Network Controller) oran MSC (Mobile Services Switching Center).

The operation of the communication network control system according tothe first exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.4 and 5 with focus being on FIG. 4.

First of all, the congestion monitoring circuit 230 of the radio basestation 200A calculates the congestion state of a circuit domain orpacket domain or a restriction ratio, and outputs the congestion state,restriction ratio, or the like (which are sometimes generically calledcommunication network information) to the control circuit 220 (S501).The control circuit 220 then transmits, to the radio communicationapparatus 100A, a restriction signal generated on the basis of thecongestion state, restriction ratio, or the like input from thecongestion monitoring circuit 230 (S502).

An example of an automatic congestion detection method and a restrictionratio calculation method in the radio base station 200A will bedescribed below. According to the automatic congestion detection method,for example, the control circuit 220 measures a CPU usage rate in agiven cycle, and determines congestion, upon consecutively observing X(X is a predetermined value) numerical values exceeding a threshold.Assume that A represents this determination. In addition, the controlcircuit 220 measures the number of packets processed per unit time inadvance. The control circuit 220 determines the maximum number ofpackets that can be processed per unit time at the nth measurement fromthe (n−1)th and (n−2)th measurements. When the number of packetsexceeding the maximum number of packets that can be processed isreceived at the nth measurement, the control circuit 220 determinescongestion. Assume that B represents this determination.

The restriction ratio calculation method will be described next. Assumethat five restriction ratios are set stepwise as 0, 25, 50, 75, and100%. In this case, at the time of the determination A, the restrictionratio is increased by two steps. At the time of the determination B, therestriction ratio is decreased by one step. If no congestion isdetermined the unit time after the restriction ratio is increased, therestriction is gradually cancelled by decreasing the restriction ratioby one step. The control circuit 220 adjusts the restriction ratio inthe above manner.

Upon receiving a restriction signal from the radio base station 200A,the control circuit 120 of the radio communication apparatus 100Aanalyzes the restriction signal to extract a congestion state,restriction ratio, or the like. The control circuit 120 thenautomatically selects a proper domain, speech communication scheme, orCODEC in accordance with the restriction ratio (S503), and notifies therelay station 300 of the selected domain, speech communication scheme,or CODEC (S504).

A method of selecting a domain, speech communication scheme, or CODEC,which the control circuit 120 performs, will be described with referenceto FIG. 5. First of all, the control circuit 120 determines, on thebasis of the congestion state of a circuit domain or packet domain orthe restriction ratio extracted from the restriction signal, whether topermit the user to perform speech communication (S601). If speechcommunication is not permitted, the user can perform text communication(S602). If, for example, the restriction ratio becomes 50% or more inthe standby state of the radio communication apparatus, the apparatus isset in the text communication mode. If, however, the restriction ratiobecomes 50% or more during speech communication of the radiocommunication apparatus, it suffices to continue the speechcommunication. If possible, a domain is selected on the basis of thecongestion state of a circuit domain or packet domain, the restrictionratio, or the like (S603). More specifically, the control circuit 120selects, for example, a circuit domain or a packet domain which has ahigher resource margin by comparing the congestion states of the domainswith each other. The control circuit 120 then selects a speechcommunication scheme and a CODEC (S604 and S605). More specifically, forexample, priorities are assigned to the speech communication schemes inadvance. If priority is given to conversation, priority is given to fullduplex communication. If priority is given to sound quality, priority isgiven to half duplex communication. The control circuit 120 thencalculates speech communication scheme (for example, 1 for generalspeech communication and 0.5 for PoC communication)×general rate (e.g.,12.2 if AMR 12.2 is the general rate). If priority is given to fullduplex communication and the restriction ratio is 25%, the controlcircuit 120 performs calculation as follows:

1×A/12.2<0.75

A<9.12

In this case, therefore, the control circuit 120 selects AMR 7.95 orless or GSM HR. If priority is given to half duplex communication andthe restriction ratio is 25%, the control circuit 120 performscalculation as follows:

0.5×A/12.2<0.75

A<18.3

In this case, therefore, the control circuit 120 can select all CODECs.With the above operation, a speech outgoing/incoming scheme isdetermined (S606).

The operation of the communication network control system according tothe first exemplary embodiment will be further described by referringback to FIG. 4. The relay station 300 transmits a notification receivedfrom the radio communication apparatus 100A to the radio communicationapparatus 100B of the speech communication partner through the radiobase station 200B (S505). The radio communication apparatuses 100A and100B then negotiate the selected CODEC and start speech communication(S506 and S508). If the relay station 300 needs to convert speech data,the radio communication apparatuses start speech communication afterpermission/inhibition of the selected CODEC is checked between the radiocommunication apparatus 100A and the relay station 300 (S507 and S509).

Making the communication network control system of the first exemplaryembodiment select a proper speech outgoing/incoming scheme by using acircuit domain or a packet domain makes it possible to performcommunication even at the time of communication network congestion. Morespecifically, for example, this allows speech communication even at thetime of a disaster, and hence makes it possible to check damage in adisaster area or the safety of disaster victims.

According to the first exemplary embodiment, it suffices if the radiocommunication apparatus 100B of a speech communication partner canperform PoC communication even if it is not compatible with thecommunication network control system. In addition, even if a speechcommunication partner is a radio communication apparatus, fixedtelephone, or IP (Internet Protocol) telephone which is not compatiblewith PoC communication, the partner can perform PoC communication byusing the PoC system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No.2006-092297. Using this arrangement makes it possible to perform speechcommunication, with proper speech, even with a radio communicationapparatus which does not have an arrangement capable of PoCcommunication, at the time of communication network congestion, therebyimproving convenience.

The first exemplary embodiment takes the form in which the radiocommunication apparatus automatically selects a speech communicationscheme or a CODEC. However, the first exemplary embodiment may take aform of making the user select a speech communication scheme or CODECfor the radio communication apparatus through the interface circuit 140,e.g., sound or a display window, instead of automatically selecting it.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

The second exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed next with reference to FIG. 6. The following is the differencebetween the second exemplary embodiment and the first exemplaryembodiment. The first exemplary embodiment has exemplified thecommunication through a radio base station in the communication networkof the 2^(nd) Generation or 3^(rd) Generation. In contrast, the secondexemplary embodiment will exemplify the operation of selecting one ofcommunication through a radio base station and communication through aWLAN AP (Wireless Local Area Network Access Point).

FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of a communication network control systemaccording to the second exemplary embodiment. The communication networkcontrol system according to the second exemplary embodiment comprisesradio communication apparatuses 100A and 100B, radio base stations 200Aand 200B, and WLAN APs 400A and 400B. In this case, the radiocommunication apparatuses 100A and 100B and the radio base stations 200Aand 200B use the same arrangements as those in the first exemplaryembodiment.

The operation of the communication network control system according tothe second exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.6.

A control circuit 120 of the radio communication apparatus 100A receivesa restriction signal from the radio base station 200A, and extractsinformation of a restriction ratio or congestion state. The controlcircuit 120 selects between performing communication through the radiobase station 200A and performing communication through the WLAN AP 400Aon the basis of the information of the restriction ratio or congestionstate. If, for example, both the restriction ratios of a circuit domainand packet domain are 75% or more, the control circuit 120 selectscommunication through the WLAN AP 400A. Upon selecting the WLAN AP 400A,the control circuit 120 selects a route connecting to the WLAN AP 400Bthrough a WLAN C or a route connecting to a packet domain in acommunication network D of the 2^(nd) Generation or 3^(rd) Generation onthe basis of the information of the restriction ratio or congestionstate. Thereafter, the radio communication apparatus 100A communicateswith the radio communication apparatus 100B through the selected route.Upon selecting the radio base station 200A, the control circuit 120performs the same operation as in the first exemplary embodiment (seeFIG. 4).

With the above operation, the communication network control systemaccording to the second exemplary embodiment can communicate even undercommunication network congestion both in a circuit domain and a packetdomain by selecting communication through the WLAN AP. In this manner,for example, the communication network control system increases thechance of communicating with disaster victims when checking a damagedegree in a disaster area or the safety of disaster victims.

The second exemplary embodiment has exemplified the two choices, i.e.,communication through a radio base station in the communication networkD of the 2^(nd) Generation or 3^(rd) Generation and communicationthrough a WLAN AP. However, the second exemplary embodiment may beconfigured to select either communication through a radio base stationin the communication network D of the 2^(nd) Generation or 3^(rd)Generation or communication through a radio base station in a WiMax(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) system. Furthermore,the second exemplary embodiment may be configured to manually selectcommunication through a radio base station, communication through a WLANAP, or communication through a radio base station in a WiMax system. Thecommunication through the radio base station, the communication throughthe WLAN AP or the communication through the radio base station in theWiMax system may be manually selected through the interface circuit 140instead of automatically selecting one of them.

In addition, in the second exemplary embodiment, a WLAN AP transmits norestriction signal. However, the second exemplary embodiment may beconfigured to transmit a restriction signal from a WLAN AP or a radiobase station in a WiMax system.

Furthermore, in the second exemplary embodiment, when communicationthrough a WLAN AP is selected, a CODEC or a communication scheme isdetermined by initialization. However, the second exemplary embodimentmay be configured to receive a restriction signal from a WLAN AP uponselection of communication through the WLAN AP and select acommunication scheme or a CODEC on the basis of the restriction signal.That is, in the second exemplary embodiment, for example, upon selectingcommunication through a WLAN AP, the control circuit 120 of the radiocommunication apparatus 100A receives a restriction signal from the WLANAP. The control circuit 120 then selects full duplex communication orhalf duplex communication on the basis of the restriction signal.Thereafter, the radio communication apparatus 100A may select a codetype and start communicating with the radio communication apparatus 100Bas a communication partner. In addition, when communication through aWLAN AP is replaced with communication through a radio base station in aWiMax system, the above operation may be performed. Furthermore, thesecond exemplary embodiment may be configured to manually select fullduplex communication or half duplex communication through an interfacecircuit 140 instead of automatically selecting one of them.

Those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications to theabove exemplary embodiments. The present invention is not thereforelimited to the above exemplary embodiments, and should be interpreted inthe broadest scope defined by appended claims and their equivalents.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limitedto those embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skillin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the sprit and scope of the present invention asdefined by the claims.

In addition to the foregoing exemplary aspect of the radio communicationapparatus, the present invention has the following exemplaryembodiments.

As a third exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized in that the selected speech outgoing/incoming schemeis a domain scheme.

As a fourth exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized in that the selected speech outgoing/incoming schemeis a speech communication scheme.

As a fifth exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized in that the selected speech outgoing/incoming schemeis a CODEC.

As a sixth exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized in that the restriction signal from the radio basestation indicates communication network information in the radio basestation.

As a seventh exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized by further comprising an interface circuit whichnotifies a user of information or allows the user to input information,and a circuit which causes the user to select the speech communicationscheme by using the interface circuit.

As an eighth exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized in that the speech outgoing/incoming scheme isautomatically selected.

As a ninth exemplary embodiment, in the radio communication apparatus,it is characterized in that the radio communication apparatus is aportable terminal.

As a tenth exemplary embodiment, there is provided a communicationnetwork control system of the present invention comprises: a radio basestation and a radio communication apparatus, in which the radio basestation comprises a first antenna which transmits a restriction signalto the radio communication apparatus; a transmission circuit whichencodes the restriction signal transmitted to the radio communicationapparatus; and a first control circuit which generates the restrictionsignal, and the radio communication apparatus comprises a second antennawhich receives the restriction signal from the radio base station; areception circuit which decodes the restriction signal received by theantenna; and a second control circuit which controls the radiocommunication apparatus, wherein the second control circuit isconfigured to select a proper speech outgoing/incoming scheme forperforming communication with the radio base station on the basis of therestriction signal received by the second antenna.

As an 11th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized in that the selected speechoutgoing/incoming scheme is a domain scheme.

As a 12th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized in that the selected speechoutgoing/incoming scheme is a speech communication scheme.

As a 13th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized in that the selected speechoutgoing/incoming scheme is a CODEC.

As a 14th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized in that the restriction signal from theradio base station indicates communication network information in theradio base station.

As a 15th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized by further comprising an interface circuitwhich notifies a user of information or allows the user to inputinformation, and a circuit which causes the user to select the speechcommunication scheme by using the interface circuit.

As a 16th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized in that the speech outgoing/incoming schemeis automatically selected.

As a 17th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized in that the radio communication apparatus isa portable terminal.

As an 18th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, it is characterized by further comprising a communicationcontrol apparatus which interconverts a communication control signalused in a telephone communication network and a communication controlsignal used in a PoC (Push-to-Talk over Cellular) system; and a speechsignal processing apparatus which interconverts a full duplex speechsignal used in the telephone communication network and a half duplexspeech signal used in the PoC system.

As a 19th exemplary embodiment, in the communication network controlsystem, the system further comprises a radio base station, a relaystation, a first radio communication apparatus, and a second radiocommunication apparatus, wherein the radio base station monitors acongestion state, calculates a restriction ratio, generates arestriction signal containing communication network information, andtransmits the restriction signal to the first radio communicationapparatus, and wherein the first radio communication apparatus extractsthe communication network information from the received restrictionsignal, selects a domain on the basis of the congestion state or therestriction ratio, and communicates with the second radio communicationapparatus through the relay station by negotiating a CODEC with thesecond radio communication apparatus.

As a 20th exemplary embodiment, there is provided a communicationcontrol method in the radio communication apparatus of the presentinvention comprises the steps of: receiving a restriction signal fromthe radio base station; decoding the received restriction signal; andselecting a domain for communication with the radio base station on thebasis of the restriction signal.

As a 21st exemplary embodiment, in the communication control method,which further comprises the steps of: in the radio base station,transmitting a restriction signal to the radio communication apparatus;encoding the restriction signal transmitted to the radio communicationapparatus; and generating the restriction signal, and in the radiocommunication apparatus, receiving the restriction signal from the radiobase station; decoding the restriction signal; and selecting a domainfor communication with the radio base station on the basis of thedecoded restriction signal.

1. A radio communication apparatus, comprising: an antenna whichreceives a restriction signal from a radio base station; a receptioncircuit which decodes the restriction signal received by said antenna;and a control circuit which controls the radio communication apparatus,wherein said control circuit can select appropriately a speechoutgoing/incoming scheme for performing communication with the radiobase station on the basis of the restriction signal from the radio basestation.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selectedspeech outgoing/incoming scheme is a domain scheme.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the selected speech outgoing/incomingscheme is a speech communication scheme.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the selected speech outgoing/incoming scheme is aCODEC.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the restrictionsignal from the radio base station indicates communication networkinformation in the radio base station.
 6. The apparatus according toclaim 3, further comprising: an interface circuit which notifies a userof information or allows the user to input information; and a circuitwhich causes the user to select the speech communication scheme by usingsaid interface circuit.
 7. The apparatus to claim 1, wherein the radiocommunication apparatus is configured to perform not only firstcommunication through the radio base station but also secondcommunication through a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or WiMax(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), and wherein saidcontrol circuit is configured to select one of the first communicationand the second communication on the basis of the restriction signalreceived from the radio base station.
 8. The apparatus according toclaim 7, further comprising: an interface circuit which notifies a userof information or allows the user to input information; and a circuitwhich causes the user to select one of the first communication and thesecond communication by using said interface circuit.
 9. A communicationnetwork control system comprising a radio base station and a radiocommunication apparatus, said radio base station comprising a firstantenna which transmits a restriction signal to said radio communicationapparatus, a transmission circuit which encodes the restriction signaltransmitted to said radio communication apparatus, and a first controlcircuit which generates the restriction signal, and said radiocommunication apparatus comprising a second antenna which receives therestriction signal from said radio base station, a reception circuitwhich decodes the restriction signal received by the antenna, and asecond control circuit which controls said radio communicationapparatus, wherein the second control circuit is configured to select aproper speech outgoing/incoming scheme for performing communication withsaid radio base station on the basis of the restriction signal receivedby the second antenna.
 10. The system according to claim 9, wherein theselected speech outgoing/incoming scheme is a domain scheme.
 11. Thesystem according to claim 9, wherein the selected speechoutgoing/incoming scheme is a speech communication scheme.
 12. Thesystem according to claim 9, wherein the selected speechoutgoing/incoming scheme is a CODEC.
 13. The system according to claim9, wherein the restriction signal from the radio base station indicatescommunication network information in the radio base station.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 9, wherein said radio communication apparatusfurther comprises: an interface circuit which notifies a user ofinformation or allows the user to input information; and a circuit whichcauses the user to select the speech communication scheme by using saidinterface circuit.
 15. The system according to claim 9, furthercomprising: a communication control apparatus which interconverts acommunication control signal used in a telephone communication networkand a communication control signal used in a PoC (Push-to-Talk overCellular) system; and a speech signal processing apparatus whichinterconverts a full duplex speech signal used in the telephonecommunication network and a half duplex speech signal used in the PoCsystem.
 16. The system according to claim 9, further comprising a relaystation, a first radio communication apparatus, and a second radiocommunication apparatus, wherein said radio base station monitors acongestion state, calculates a restriction ratio, generates arestriction signal containing communication network information, andtransmits the restriction signal to said first radio communicationapparatus, and wherein said first radio communication apparatus extractsthe communication network information from the received restrictionsignal, selects a domain on the basis of the congestion state or therestriction ratio, and communicates with said second radio communicationapparatus through said relay station by negotiating a CODEC with saidsecond radio communication apparatus.
 17. The system according to claim9, wherein said radio base station comprising: a first antenna whichtransmits a restriction signal to said radio communication apparatus, atransmission circuit which encodes the restriction signal transmitted tosaid radio communication apparatus, and a first control circuit whichgenerates the restriction signal, wherein said radio communicationapparatus comprising: a second antenna which receives the restrictionsignal from said radio base station, a reception circuit which decodesthe restriction signal received by the second antenna, and a secondcontrol circuit which controls said radio communication apparatus,wherein said radio communication apparatus is configured to performfirst communication through said radio base station and secondcommunication through a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or WiMax(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), and wherein saidsecond control circuit is configured to select one of the firstcommunication and the second communication on the basis of therestriction signal received by the second antenna.
 18. The systemaccording to claim 17, further comprising a radio communicationapparatus including an interface circuit which notifies a user ofinformation or allows the user to input information, and a circuit whichcauses the user to select one of the first communication and the secondcommunication by using the interface circuit.
 19. A communicationcontrol method comprising the steps of: receiving a restriction signalfrom the radio base station; decoding the received restriction signal;and selecting a domain for communication with the radio base station onthe basis of the restriction signal.
 20. The method according to claim19, wherein the method further comprises the steps of: in the radio basestation, transmitting a restriction signal to the radio communicationapparatus; encoding the restriction signal transmitted to the radiocommunication apparatus; and generating the restriction signal, and inthe radio communication apparatus, receiving the restriction signal fromthe radio base station; decoding the restriction signal; and selecting adomain for communication with the radio base station on the basis of thedecoded restriction signal.
 21. The method according to claim 19,wherein the method further comprises the steps of: receiving arestriction signal from a radio base station; decoding the receivedrestriction signal; and selecting one of first communication through theradio base station and second communication through a WLAN or WiMAX onthe basis of the restriction signal.